Method for Retail On-Line Account Opening

ABSTRACT

A system and method for a retail customer interfacing with a financial institution through a computer network is presented. The method includes a verification of customer-provided information with a pre-existing client identification profile for the customer, a determination of the customer&#39;s credit score using a set of predetermined criteria, and presenting a set of account options based at least in part on the verification of the customer-provided information and the customer&#39;s credit score. Additional customer-provided information may be received and verified and used to enroll the customer in one or more programs offered by the financial institution at a predefined level based at least on one or more predetermined factors.

RELATED AND CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. Patentapplication Ser. No. 15/353,264 filed on 16 Nov. 2016 entitled “Methodfor Retail On-Line Account Opening” which itself claims priority to U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/807,219 filed on 23 Jul. 2015 entitled“Method for Retail On-Line Account Opening” which itself claims priorityto U.S. application Ser. No. 12/540,179, filed 12 Aug. 2009 and entitled“System and Method for Retail Online Account Opening”, which itselfclaims priority to each of the following provisional applications:“System and Method for Business Online Account Opening”, Ser. No.61/088,267 filed 12 Aug. 2008; “System and Method for Retail OnlineAccount”, Ser. No. 61/088,229 filed 12 Aug. 2008; and “System and Methodfor an Electronic Lending System”, Ser. No. 61/088,239 filed 12 Aug.2008. The present application incorporates by reference in its entiretyeach of the above-listed applications. Additionally, this applicationhereby incorporates herein by reference, in their entirety, each of thefollowing applications that were concurrently filed with U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/540,179: “System and Method for Business OnlineAccount Opening”, Ser. No. 12/540,188 filed 12 Aug. 2009; and “Systemand Method for an Electronic Lending System”, Ser. No. 12/540,153 filed12 Aug. 2009.

BACKGROUND

Increasingly the public is going on-line for a variety of transactionsand information. More than 30% of the population has personal computersand modems. Furthermore, over 60% of people with bank accounts havepersonal computers and modems. At the same time the number of peoplesubscribing and using on-line services is greater than 40 million, andthis number is growing at an exponential rate.

As the public uses computers with a greater frequency, more financialtransactions are being automated and performed via computer. There isgood motivation to bank on-line. On-line banking provides convenience,safety, cost savings, and potentially new types of services not readilyor conveniently available via in-person banking. Such potentially newservices include access to superior up-to-the minute information,on-line investment clubs, information filters, and search agents.

With the increase in the number of financial transactions performedon-line, the convenience and cost-savings of banking on-line alsoincreases. Additionally new and more powerful methods are beingdeveloped for protecting the security of financial transactionsperformed on-line. The result is that convenience, cost savings andenhanced security have combined to make on-line financial services moreuseful and effective, thereby driving the development of newer and moreintegrated services. More sophisticated financial systems that offergreater integration and a high degree of user control enable on-lineusers to synthesize, monitor, and analyze a wide array of financialtransactions and personal financial data.

Currently, methods exist for users to perform a variety of on-linefinancial transactions. These methods, however, fail to offer on-lineaccount opening including qualification verifications. For example,users may bank on-line, thereby enabling performance of transactions,such as transfers from one account to another, but must already have theestablished account in the financial institution.

In view of the increase of electronic commerce in the market place thepresent subject matter discloses a unique on-line account openingmethod. The disclosed subject matter enables a stream-lined entry to anon-line banking presence.

A method is needed in which retail customers may establish an on-lineaccount, be enrolled in financial offerings as a result of qualificationand verification of the qualification based on a set of criteria.

In order to obviate the deficiencies of the prior art, the presentdisclosure presents a novel method for interfacing with a financialinstitution using a computer interface. In the method, a customerrequest is received from a customer that has reached a predeterminedwebpage of the financial institution using a computer network. A firstcontent is presented to the customer, and a first input is received fromthe customer. A first set of information is received from the customerand presented back to the customer for review.

In the method, a second set of information is further received from thecustomer, the second set of information including the first set ofinformation and any modification to the first set of information made bythe customer upon their review. The terms and conditions are presentedto the customer and an application is received from the customer. Thesecond set of information is also verified.

In the method, the customer's credit score is determined using a firstset of predetermined criteria and a set of account options is presentedto the customer, the account options presented being based at least inpart on the verification of the second set of information and thecustomer's credit score. A second input is received from the customer;the second input is verified and it is determined if the customer is tobe enrolled for a debit card or Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) Card. Thecustomer is processed for debit card or ATM card enrollment at apredefined level based at least on one or more predetermined factors.

Also in the method, it is determined if the customer is to be enrolledin a on-line banking program. If the customer is approved, the accountnumbers at the financial institution are reserved. The customer is thenpresented via a communication from the financial institution withinformation related to the customer's approved products accounts and/orenrollments.

Another method is also presented for interfacing with a financialinstitution using a computer interface. The method includes receiving aninterface request from the customer having reached a webpage of thefinancial institution, presenting a group of products to the customerwhere the products are a function of the access path used by thecustomer. A choice is received from the customer along with a first setof identification information. The method further includes a review ofthe first set of identification information and if not verified, arequest for a second set of identification information is made. If thecustomer identification information is verified, a predetermined clientidentification profile (CIP) is evaluated.

If the evaluation of the CIP is acceptable, the customer's personalinformation is displayed for the customer and a determination of whethera co-applicant is associated with the customer and, if so, co-applicantidentification information is collected and verified. If the evaluationof the CIP is not acceptable a third set of customer identificationinformation is further requested.

Also in the method, if the second or third set of customeridentification information is required and received, determining fromthe information if the customer is located within an operating areas ofthe financial institution and, if not, obtaining a secondary residencelocation from the customer, a determination is also made of whetherthere is a co-applicant associated with the customer, if so, a set ofco-applicant identification information is collected and verified. Termsand conditions of the selected products are presented to the customerand an application is received from the customer for the chosen productor products.

These and many other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which theinvention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings,and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a flow chart of an embodiment of the disclosed subjectmatter.

FIG. 1B is a flow chart of additional subject matter discloses ascomplementary with the embodiment in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of another embodiment of the disclosed subjectmatter.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart representing a verification process based on theevaluation outcome of a customer's CIP according to an embodiment of thedisclosed subject matter.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart representing additional subject matter disclosedas complementary with the embodiment in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart representing the yet additional subject matterdisclosed as complementary with the embodiment in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart representing further subject matter disclosed ascomplementary with the embodiment in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart representing further subject matter disclosed ascomplementary with the embodiment in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a representative chart of customer correspondences from thefinancial institution and associated triggers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a process in which a customer may open an on-lineretail account via a computer network, e.g., the Internet, by accessingand exchanging information using the website of a financial institution.The customer enters the system by accessing or being directed to theinstitutions' website (webpage) as shown in Block 101. In either event,a request for the website is received by the financial institution'sserver or proxy server. The customer is presented a list of productssuch as a checking account, savings account, an on-line only savingsaccount or brokerage account or any of a number of financial productsoffered by the institution. These financial products may also include adeposit account, which may be in the form of a certificate of deposit,individual retirement account, retirement account, a 401(k) account,tax-deferred college savings account or combination thereof Theselection of products presented to the customer may also be a functionof path used by the customer to arrive at the website. For example, ifthe customer accessed the website via a hyperlink on another sitedirected to retirement, only the retirement accounts may be presented,or the entire scope of products is presented but the retirement accountsmay be highlighted. In this manner, the most relevant products based onthe customer's path may be brought to the customer's attention.

Following FIG. 1, the customer may then select a product from theproducts presented as shown in Block 102. A first set of information isrequested of and received from the customer as shown in Block 103. Uponreceiving the first set of information (customer's information), theinformation is verified. The information may include the name, his/herphysical address, date of birth, SSN or part thereof, contactinformation such as phone numbers and email addresses, citizenship, andinformation regarding the characteristics of the identification (e.g.type, ID Number, State of issuance, issue date and expiration date),user name, password or other identifying indicia/code that enables theidentification of the customer or links the customer to the customer'sestablished account(s).

The first set of information is verified as shown in Block 104. Thisverification may include presenting back to the customer for review thefirst set of information and receiving a second set of information whichincludes any corrections to the first set of information the customerhas made, the second set of information may also include informationregarding a co-applicant. The website may allow and request the customerto annotate, modify or otherwise change incorrect or incompleteinformation upon its presentation to the customer. The customer is alsoprovided with a set of terms and conditions which may govern the use ofthe website, on-line banking, application process, liabilities, etc, asshown in Block 105. The terms and conditions may also include a customercheck-off which may be required to continue and ensure they have been atleast noticed, if not reviewed by the customer. The terms and conditionsmay include an electronic disclosure, a retail bank services agreement,a state pricing guide, a corporate privacy notice, and a taxidentification number certification as well as others common to theindustry. An application for a product may be submitted by and receivedfrom the customer as shown in Block 106. The customer identification isthen verified in Block 107.

Still in FIG. 1, if the customer identification is not verified indecision Block 108, the process ends or an exception may be granted asshown in Block 109 of FIG. 1. If the customer ID is verified, thecustomer's credit score which is representative of the customer's creditworthiness is determined and verified as shown in Block 110. The creditscore is determined using a second set of predetermined criteria. Thecriteria includes whether the customer is a new or existing client ofthe financial institution, has customer been identified as fraudster orabuser by the financial institution; has the customer been identified asa fraudster by a third party or another financial institution and doesthe customer identity verification score exceed a predeterminedthreshold. Of course additional criteria reflective of the customer'scredit worthiness may also be applied.

Still referring to FIG. 1, a decision on the customer's credit is madeas shown in Block 111. If the customer's credit is not approved, anexception may be made or the application process may be terminated asshown in Block 112. The process of ending the application or granting anexception is discussed later. If the customer's credit is accepted,customer account options are presented as shown in Block 113.

The account options presented may be based at least in part on theverification the second set of information and the information regardingthe customer's credit score. The account options presented may also be afunction of a set of risk evaluation rules. These rules may includedecisions on a social security number evaluation, an identity theftevaluation, a retail indicator evaluation, a previous inquiresevaluation, a closure summary evaluation and a closure detailsevaluation. The decisions may be go/no-go or may be qualitative innature. For example, if the social security number does not match thename, a no-go decision may be rendered, whereas the previous inquiresevaluation may result in a go/no-go decision or a qualified approvaldependent upon another condition.

Upon the selection of the account options, funding options may then bepresented to the customer as shown in Block 114. The funding optionspresented may advantageously be based on the account options (products)selected by the customer.

The funding options are the methods in which the account options are tobe created or funded. These options may include sending of a check,making a deposit at the financial institution or an affiliate, transferof funds from another external financial institution or a transfer froma pre-existing account at the financial institution. In addition, otherinformation may be requested from the customer for compliance purposes.The funding source may then be verified as shown in Block 115 bypresenting back to the customer all accounts, funding methods, source ofinitial funds and the amount originally entered. The customer may modifyany of the funding information before finalizing and submitting thefunding. The customer may then be qualified for a debit card (checkcard) or ATM card.

In decision Block 116 it is determined whether the customer is to beenrolled for a debit card or ATM card. The decision to be enrolled in adebit card may be determined as a function of the information previouslysupplied by the customer. If the customer is to be enrolled for a debitcard, information regarding the enrollment is collected and a level ofenrollment is determined as shown in Block 117. The level of enrollmentmay be based on at least one or more predetermined factors based uponrisk factors or financial factors, for example a low credit score wouldlead to a lower level while substantial assets may advocate for a higherlevel of enrollment. In addition, the status of other accounts may alsobe used to determine the level of enrollment for the debit card or ATMcard. The customer may be advantageously allowed to select a personalidentification number (PIN) for the debit card or the ATM card. The PINmay also be automatically selected by the institution. It is nextdetermined if the customer is to be enrolled in on-line banking as shownin Block 118. The on-line banking program if selected reserves accountnumbers as shown in Block 119.

The customer is presented with a final presentation including customerinformation related to the customer's selected products, accounts and orenrollments reflective of the status of their on-line banking opening asshown in Block 120. The final presentation may present a summary of theproduct offerings selected by the customer. The name on the debit cardand ATM cards, authorization level may also be displayed for all debitcards enrolled. Accounts having overdraft protection selected, may alsobe identified along the overdraft account information. Bank Card offersthat were accepted may be displayed as well as other third party offersaccepted by the customer. The nearest branch location and otherinformation a new client would find useful may be displayed as well.Contact information including phone number, addresses, email addressesand web pages may be presented to the customer during finalpresentation.

Additional products and offers may be communicated to the customer inthe final summary, these products and offers may be only tangentiallyrelated or provided by third parties, these advertisements may also bepresented based on the information collected during the on-line processand may be selected by the financial institution. Selection by thefinancial institution prevents the unwanted disclosure of privateinformation but still allows the advertizing to be marketed based onfinancial status. The customer may also be given the opportunity toorder checks and other products related to the opening of the account.For this additional product offering, the customer may be connected toanother site. Upon fulfillment of the terms and conditions of enrollmentand funding, the on-line banking opening may be complete as evidenced bya thank you or other correspondence sent to the customer as shown inBlock 121. Telephone assistance may also be available while in theprocess of on-line banking enrollment, to further aid the process.Telephone support may also be accessed after the opening process ends.

A flow chart 100B is shown in FIG. 1B. The flow chart shows additionalsteps that may be performed by the financial institution in conjunctionwith the steps shown in FIG. 1A. These steps are typically consideredback room operations that are transparent to the customer. From theinformation gained during the application process discussed above, thecustomer's identification information may be augmented or updated asshown in Block 122. A risk analysis is performed on the customer todetermine if the customer's activities present an unacceptable oracceptable risk as shown in Block 123. If the risk analysis yields anunfavorable result indicating the customer is high risk, the account maynot be opened on-line as shown in Block 124. In such a case the customermay be required to appear in person to facilitate the account opening.In addition, a fraud analysis is performed on the customer in Block 125.This analysis may include determining if the customer is listed as afraudster on an internal or external database. The fraud analysis mayalso include evaluation of the customer's provided information, such aswhether the SSN is associated with a person who is deceased, or if theSSN was issued prior to the customer's reported birth date, other checkssuch as determining if the mailing address is associated with a prisonor other notorious entity would also be advantageous. If the fraudanalysis presents red flags or warnings the account may be preventedfrom being opened on-line as discussed above.

New accounts for the customer may be opened based on the customer'sapproved products, accounts, and/or enrollments at the financialinstitution as shown in Block 126. In the particular example the newaccount, added in Block 126, includes a demand deposit account (DDA) anda savings account (SAV). The financial institution also processes theon-line banking enrollment, if approved, as shown in Block 127 andinitiates a fund transfer to the new customer account as shown in Block128. Along with the funds transfer, the customer is sent an automaticclearing house ACH or electronic funds transfer EFT disclosure asrequired in Block 129. In Block 130, the new account or accounts arelinked to an overdraft account such as a savings account, credit card,or line of credit. The debit card or ATM card is also linked to the newaccount or accounts as shown in Block 131. The credit card offers thatare accepted by the customer are ordered from a card management systemwhich may be internal or part of a third party financial institution asshown in Block 132 and the fulfillment information is processed in Block133. Upon funding of the new customer account, a communication, such asan email, SMS, text message, tweet, posting, letter, phone call or othertype is sent to the customer to indicate the funding as shown in Block134.

FIG. 2 shows a method 200 of obtaining an on-line application. Thecustomer enters the system in Block 201, where promotional codes andCompany names associated with the financial institution in Blocks 203and 204 respectively may be advantageously included on the introductionpage on the website Block 202. Other favorable indicia for, example,Member of the Institute of Credit Management (MICM) 205 and/or Member ofFDIC also may be included on the introduction page. The promotionalcodes and company names as noted previously and even the additionalindicia may be a function of the path by which the customer arrived atthe financial institution's website as well as the products offered.

The products offered on the website may also include more or lessdetailed descriptions as well as the cost, rates and duration periods asshown in Block 207. This information may be on the introduction page oraccessible from a selectable pop up window or hyperlink. The customer'sproduct selection is made and received by the financial institution orserver as shown in Block 206.

In FIG. 2, following receipt of the customer's product selection thecustomer is authenticated as shown in Block 208, the authentication mayadvantageously include the collection of customer identificationinformation, as discussed previously. If the customer successfullypasses the authentication as shown in decision Block 209, apredetermined client identification profile (CIP) for the customer isevaluated as shown in Block 210. The predetermined client identificationprofile is determined internally from internal and external informationsuch as information from LexisNexis™ products. If the evaluation isacceptable the customer's personal information is displayed on thecustomer's viewing device as shown in Block 211 and attention is thenturned to that of a co-applicant if one is determined, as shown indecision Block 212. Information is collected on the co-applicant inBlock 213 and that information is verified as shown in Block 214. Absenta co-applicant the terms and conditions associated with the products,website and on-line accounts are presented to the customer as shown inBlock 215 and the customer submits the application for the selectedproducts as shown in Block 216. Generally, the co-applicant is subjectedto similar checks as the customer.

If, however, the customer does not pass the customer authentication indecision Block 209, then an additional set of information (INFO1) isrequested and entered by the customer. Additionally, customers using atelephone to create the on-line account may also be requested to providethis additional set of information as the webpage authentication processis bypassed. Additional information (INFO2) is also requested if the CIPis found not acceptable in decision Block 210, further processing isdescribed with respect to the CIP outcome in FIG. 3 later. Theadditional information requested may be identical in both cases. Uponreceipt of the additional information, INFO1 or INFO2, a determinationis made on whether the customer is located within an operating area ofthe financial institution or within the financial institution'sgeographic footprint as shown in Block 219. If not, secondary residenceinformation is requested and obtained from the customer, in either casea determination of whether there is a co-applicant is made in decisionBlock 221. If there is a co-applicant, their information is collectedand verified in Blocks 222 and 223 respectively, otherwise the terms andconditions are presented in Block 215 and an application is submitted asshown in Block 216, as discussed previously. The terms and conditionsmay include an electronic disclosure, a retail bank services agreement,a state pricing guide, a corporate privacy notice, a personal privacynotice and a tax identification number certification as well as otherscommon to the industry. FIG. 2 also shows that the additionalinformation, co-applicant information and secondary residenceinformation may be edited by the customer any time prior to submissionof the application.

Turning to FIG. 3, an alternative or complementary method 300 to method200 in FIG. 2 is shown. The method begins following the determination ofwhether the customer has a good CIP as shown in decision Block 310. Ifthe customer has a good CIP, attention is turned to whether there is aco-applicant. If there is no co-applicant indicated in decision Block318-10, then an application may be submitted. The process for aco-applicant will be discussed shortly. A determination that thecustomer does not have a good CIP in Block 310 results in an evaluationof a first verification index as shown in Block 318-1. If the firstindex is found acceptable in decision Block 318-2, then the customer isqueried with one or a series of questions as shown in Block 318-3. Thecustomer's answers are then verified and a determination of whether theyare, or almost are acceptable is made in decision Block 318-4. If theyare acceptable a determination of whether there is a co-applicant isundertaken in Block 318-10. If the answers are not acceptable then adetermination on whether the customer is an existing client isundertaken as shown in Block 318-7. A third outcome may stem fromdecision Block 318-4, the answers may almost be acceptable. In the caseof almost acceptable answers, the customer is queried a second time asshown in Block 318-5 and a yes or no determination of whether thesesecond set of answers are acceptable. If they are not, a determinationof whether the customer is an existing client is undertaken in Block318-7. If the second set of answers are acceptable, a determination ofwhether there is a co-applicant is undertaken in Block 318-4. Continuingwith Block 318-4, if there is no co-applicant then an application may besubmitted following a presentation of the terms and condition. If thereis a co-applicant in Block 318-4, then a second verification index isevaluated as shown in Block 318-11. If the second verification index isfound acceptable in decision Block 318-12 then an application may besubmitted, otherwise a determination of whether the customer is anexisting client is made in decision Block 318-7. A negative decisionreached in Block 318-7 indicating the customer is not an existing clientmay lead to a termination of the on-line process as shown in Block318-8, whereas a positive decision from Block 318-7 may lead to apending status, where approval is subject to a review process as shownin Block 318-9. This additional review process may advantageouslyinclude review of the past and current relationship between thefinancial institution and the customer, as well as other considerationsrelated to the customer's client status.

For example, if the name, address, phone number and SSN match, a scorereflecting a high matching comparison is given, whereas when one or moreof these do not match, a score reflecting a lower matching comparison isapplied. The customer is queried regarding answers related to his/heridentity for verification. Questions in the query may include forexample information typically known only to the individual, such asmother's maiden name, previous address, banking accounts etc.

Each verification index represents evaluations using a particular set orarea of information. The sets or areas of information may or may not bemutually exclusive. One verification index may be based on informationwhich includes searches drawn from public records and directories.Another verification index may be based on the applicant information,for example, name, address, Social Security Number (SSN) and contactinformation. Yet another verification index may be based on pastrelationships between the customer and financial institutions. Theseverification indices may be performed internal by the financialinstitution or by a third party. The verification indexes may becompared to a predetermined threshold to determine if it is acceptable.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method 400 tied to whether a demand deposit account(DDA) is selected by the customer or not. As shown in FIG. 4, adetermination that a DDA has been selected from Block 401 may lead todetermining a first set of verification data as shown in Block 402. Thefirst set of verification data may include information derived from anthird party or held internally by the institution. This first set ofverification data may be obtained internally or from a third party suchas Equifax or ChexSystems™ for example. The first set of verificationdata is evaluated in Block 403. If the first set of verification data isnot acceptable or a DDA was not selected in Block 401, a second set ofverification data is determined from another internal database oranother of the third party providers. If the second set of verificationdata is not acceptable as shown further down FIG. 4 in Block 406 adetermination is made whether the customer is an existing client inBlock 410. If the first verification data is found acceptable indecision Block 403, then a determination is made regarding aco-applicant in decision Block 405. Where there is no co-applicant andeither the first or second set of verification data are acceptable fromBlocks 403 or 406 respectively, the customer is approved for a DDA asshown in Block 409.

If there is a co-applicant and the first or second verification data isacceptable, a determination of a third set of verification data is madeas shown in Block 407, if the third set of verification data isacceptable in Block 408, the customer again is approved for a DDA asshown in Block 409, else a determination on whether the customer is anexisting client is made in Block 410. If upon reaching a negativedetermination regarding whether the customer is an existing client inBlock 410, the process is terminated as shown in Block 412. If however,from decision Block 410, a positive determination is reached, thecustomer's approval is placed in a pending status and a further reviewof the customer is undertaken prior to a final approval decision asshown in Block 411. Customers pending may be manually reviewed by thefinancial institution, however information and product presentation maycontinue until the review is completed.

The evaluation of the second or third verification data includesapplying a predetermined set of business rules, these rules may dictatea go/no-go decision based on the results of a social security numberevaluation, a tax identification number evaluation, an identity theftevaluation, a retail indicator evaluation, a previous inquiriesevaluation, a closure summary evaluation, and a closure detailsevaluation or a combination of these. These rules may relate to pastcustomer activities.

Turning to FIG. 5, a determination is made in Block 501 on whether thecustomer requested an option package, if so the customer is presentedwith the terms and conditions associated with the option package asshown in Block 509. As shown in Block 503 information regarding amountand from what source the new account will be funded is obtained from thecustomer. The funding information is then verified in Block 504. If thefunding information including amount is valid, as determined in Block505, the customer's eligibility for a debit card is determined, ifhowever the funding source is not valid, the customer is asked for adifferent source, or if the amount is insufficient to open the accountthe customer may be asked for addition funds as shown in Block 506.

After the account is funded, the eligibility of a debit card isdetermined in decision Block 507. If the customer is eligible for adebit card, the debit card information is determined and established asshown in Block 508. If the customer is not eligible for a debit card, adetermination is made in Block 509 of whether the customer is eligiblefor an ATM card, if so the ATM card information is determined and theservice is established. It is then determined whether the customer is anon-line banking client or not, as shown in Block 511, if not, on-linebanking information is obtained and the on-line banking service isestablished for the customer as shown in Block 512. If the customer isapproved for either the debit card or the ATM card as shown in Block 513the account numbers for the approved cards are generated at thefinancial institution as shown in Block 516, additionally, the customermay be prompted to select their PIN number at this point or earlier suchthat the account numbers and PIN may be matched up. A final summaryinformation is also presented to the customer. If the customer is notapproved for a card a final summary review is presented to the customeras shown in Block 514 and the customer is placed in a review process asshown in Block 515.

In FIG. 6, method 600 first determines whether the customer is anon-line banking client of the financial institution as shown in decisionBlock 601. If the customer is an on-line banking client, a determinationis made as to whether a new client identification profile (CIP) needs tobe created for the customer as shown in Block 604. If a new CIP isneeded, a set of customer information used to determine the clientidentification profile is updated as shown in Block 605. After updatingthe information for the customer, a determination whether there is aco-applicant is made in Block 606. Going back to decision Block 601, ifthe customer is not an on-line banking client of the financialinstitution, a determination is made whether a set of customerinformation exists in Block 602 and if not a set of information iscreated as shown in Block 603, else the process returns to thedetermination of whether there is a co-applicant in Block 606. If thereis a co-applicant, a determination of whether information regarding theco-applicant exists is made in Block 607 and, if not, a set ofco-applicant information is created as shown in Block 608.

A hot list check is performed on the customer as shown in Block 609.This hot list check may be a regulatory requirement stemming from, forexample, the Patriot Act and/or Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).This check may be performed regardless of the outcomes of the decisionBlocks 601, 602, 604, 606 and 607. If there is not a hit on the hot listcheck on the customer in Block 610, the process continues to Block 612,otherwise a wait is initiated for a predetermined amount of time asshown in Block 611 and the hot list check is performed again. If thereis no hit during the subsequent performance, the process continues ontoBlock 612, otherwise, the customer is not permitted to open the accounton-line as illustrated in Block 614. The predetermined wait may be amatter of hours or days and may depend on the update frequency of thelist. Having no hits on the hot list, the customer's activities are thenrated for risk in Block 612. A determination is then made regarding aco-applicant as shown in Block 615. If there is a co-applicant, anidentical hot list check is performed on the co-applicant in Block 616,as was for the customer. If there is not a hit on the hot list check ofthe co-applicant in Block 617, the process continues to Block 619,otherwise a wait is initiated for a predetermined amount of time asshown in Block 618 and the hot list check is performed again. If thereis no hit during the subsequent performance, the process continues ontoBlock 619, otherwise the co-applicant is not permitted to open theaccount on-line as illustrated in Block 621. Having no hits on the hotlist, the co-applicant's activities are now rated for risk in Block 619.

Turning now to FIG. 7, a method 700 is shown establishing the accountsand services requested by and approved for the customer. In Block 701the requested and approved accounts are created for the customer, suchas a DDA and/or a SAV. The customer is then linked preferably to all theaccount created for the customer as shown in Block 702. A determinationis then made whether the customer has accepted any additional offerspresented by the financial institution or third party vendor as shown inBlock 703 and if so, updating a list of preapproved products for thecustomer as shown in Block 704. A determination is then made whether thecustomer has selected to enrolled in an on-line banking program as shownin Block 705, if so the customer is enrolled in the on-line bankingprogram as shown in Block 706. A determination is made whether thecustomer's funding is via an internal transfer from a preexistingaccount at the financial institution, as shown in Block 707. If so, theinternal transfer is initiated at the financial institute as shown inBlock 708. If the transfer is external as determined in Block 709, thenthe setup required for such an external transfer is initiated as shownin Block 710. As shown in Block 711, a determination of whether thecustomer has existing debit cards or ATM cards with the financialinstitution. If the customer does have these existing cards, they may belinked to the new accounts opened by the customer as shown in Block 712.A further determination is made regarding overdraft protection of thenew accounts as shown in Block 713, if no overdraft protection isselected the process continues to Block 722, otherwise the source of theoverdraft protection may be established and/or linked to the newaccount.

If the customer selects a new line of credit to provide overdraftprotection in decision Block 714, a new credit line (CLR) account numberis generated in Block 715, a new credit line account is created with thegenerated number in Block 716 and the credit line account is linked tothe customer in Block 717, and the customer's credit line account usedfor overdraft protection is linked to the customer's DDA as shown in719. The customer may have chosen not to open a new line of credit toprovide overdraft protection and instead use an existing credit lineaccount as shown in decision Block 718, in which case the customer'sexisting credit line account is linked to the DDA as shown in Block 719.The customer may also have decided to provide overdraft protection usingan existing or new savings account in decision Block 720, in which casethe savings account is then linked to the DDA account as shown in Block721. The customer in the process of opening a new account may haveaccepted a credit card, upon such a determination in Block 722, a creditcard order internally or to the card management service is initiated, asshown in Block 723. As noted previously, many of these steps are backroom operations transparent to the customer. However, the progress ofthese steps may be reported to the customer as an indication of progressin the account opening. Direct correspondences with the customerinforming them of the status of their accounts may also be advantageous.Exemplary customer correspondences and triggers are shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 8 lists correspondences (messages) to the customer as well and theevent or occurrence that triggers the message being sent, the list isexemplary only. A message 801 “COMPLETED APPLICATION” is sent when theapplication process has been completed successfully and the fundingoption for the new account is with an existing account located at thefinancial institution, with another financial institution (externalaccount) or by making a deposit at the financial institution as shown inBlock 802. The message 803 “COMPLETED APPLICATION, ACCOUNT APPROVED,FUNDING PENDING” may be sent upon when the application process has beencompleted successfully and the funding option for the new account is bycheck as shown in Block 804. The message 805 “DENIED AFTER CIP REVIEW”may be sent when a CIP exception occurred and after review theapplication is denied as shown in Block 806. The message 807 “DENIEDAFTER CC REVIEW” may be sent when a credit exception occurred and afterreview the application is denied as shown in Block 808. The message 809“UNABLE TO OPEN ACCT” may be sent when the account opening is denied dueto a positive hit list check as shown in Block 810. The message 811“UNABLE TO CONTACT-APPL. EXCEPTION-PENDING REVIEW” may be sent when anexception occurred and the financial institution attemptedunsuccessfully to contact the customer a second time as shown in block812. The message “PHONE CHANNEL FUNDING AUTHORIZATION PER CUSTOMERVERBAL REQUEST” may be sent when the customer authorized the financialinstitution by telephone to submit an ACH or EFT transfer on customer'sbehalf as shown in Block 814. The message 815 “FUNDING BY MAIL NOTRECEIVED-10 DAYS” may be sent when the account remains unfunded for 10days as shown in Block 816. The message 817 “SECOND REMINDER-FUNDING NOTRECEIVED-30 DAYS” may be sent appropriately after the account remainsunfunded for 30 days as shown in Block 818. The message 819 “DEPOSITRECEIVED-SEPARATE COMMUNICATION (e.g. E-MAIL) PER ACCT” may be sent whenthe account has been funded as shown in Block 820. The message 821“APPL. COMPLETE-PENDING REVIEW” may be sent when the applicationinformation collected and account opening process is pending furtherreview as shown in Block 822. These messages as well as others may bemodified and tailored depending on the correspondence type.

Embodiments of the disclosed subject matter may utilize drop down menusto show the options available to the customer and simplify theirselection. Auto fill options may also be utilized for the convenience ofthe customer. The website format may also be selectable for use inmobile equipment such as Blackberries and PDA equipment, where screenspace and functionality may be more limited than on a personal computer.Communications between the customer and the financial institution duringthe opening of an account may advantageously be encrypted.

The methods of retail on-line account openings may be implemented usingvarious software, hardware and protocols. Additionally, informationcollected via the on-line opening process may be stored in a databasefor access at a future time. Time outs may also be utilized in themethod to require selections and information to be input by the customerbe contemporaneous with the requests.

The on-line opening utilizes advantageously utilizes real timeevaluation of the risks due to fraud and identity by using informationpreviously collected by the institution as well as information obtainedfrom third parties. The decrease in processing times from days tominutes increases the convenience of account opening significantly.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it is to be understood that the embodiments described areillustrative only and that the scope of the invention is to be definedsolely by the appended claims when accorded a full range of equivalence,many variations and modifications naturally occurring to those of skillin the art from a perusal thereof.

What we claim is:
 1. A method of interfacing with a client computer withat least one server comprising at least one processor, the methodcomprising the steps of, via the at least one processor: (a) receivingan interface request from a client computer after the client computerhas reached, via a path through a computer network, a predeterminedwebpage on a computer system for the financial institution; (b)presenting a first content to the client computer; (c) receiving a firstinput from the client computer; (d) receiving from the client computer afirst set of information; (e) presenting the first set of information tothe client computer for review by a customer using the client computerand receiving a second set of information from the client computerwherein the second set of information comprises the first set ofinformation and any modifications to the first set of information madeby the customer; (f) presenting to the client computer a set of termsand conditions; (g) receiving an application from the client computer;(h) verifying at least a part of the second set of information; (i)factoring whether the customer is a new or existing client of thefinancial institution in determining a credit score of the customer; (j)presenting to the client computer a set of account options andassociated terms and conditions wherein the account options presentedare based at least in part on the verification of the second set ofinformation and the customer's credit score; (k) receiving a fundingoption from the client computer; (l) verifying the funding option; (m)determining that the customer is to be enrolled for a debit card or anautomated teller machine (“ATM”) card; (n) processing the customer forthe debit card or ATM card enrollment; (o) determining that the customeris to be enrolled in an online banking program; (p) reserving accountnumbers at the financial institution for the customer; (q) presenting tothe client computer information related to the customer's approvedproducts, accounts, or enrollments; and (r) sending a communication tothe client computer indicating approval of the customer's approvedproducts, accounts, or enrollments.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising the steps of, via the at least one processor: (s) adding orupdating the customer's identification information at the financialinstitution; (t) performing a risk analysis on the customer; (u)performing a fraud analysis on the customer; (v) opening a new accountfor the customer at the financial institution based on the customer'sapproved products, accounts, or enrollments; (w) processing thecustomer's approved online banking enrollment; (x) initiating a fundtransfer to the new customer account; (y) adding an overdraft protectionaccount at the financial institution for the customer; (z) linking thedebit card or ATM card to the new customer account; (aa) ordering acredit card for the customer; (ab) processing fulfillment information;and (ac) sending a communication to the client computer indicatingfunding of the new customer account.
 3. The method of claim 1 whereinthe first content includes at least one of a checking account, a savingsaccount, and an online only savings account.
 4. The method of claim 1wherein the first content is selected from the group consisting of:certificate of deposit, individual retirement account, retirementaccount, a 401(k) account, tax-deferred college savings account, andcombinations thereof.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first contentis determined by the path through the computer network.
 6. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the first content includes a list of products, andwherein one of the products is automatically highlighted on a displaydevice of the client computer wherein the product highlighted is basedon the path through the computer network.
 7. The method of claim 1wherein the first set of information includes at least one of: an onlineclient user identification and password for the customer; the customer'slast name; and the last four digits of the customer's social securitynumber.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the second set of informationincludes at least one of the customer's personal information and aco-applicant associated with the customer.
 9. The method of claim 1wherein the verifying at least a part of the second set of informationincludes determining a first verification information, evaluating thefirst verification information, querying the customer, verifying thecustomer's answers to the queries, and authenticating the customer basedon the first verification information and the customer's answers. 10.The method of claim 1 wherein the first set of predetermined criteriafurther includes at least one of a determination of whether the customerhas been identified as a fraudster or abuser by the financialinstitution, a determination of whether the customer has been identifiedas a fraudster by a second financial institution, and a determination ofwhether a customer identity verification score for the customer exceedsa predetermined threshold.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the fundingoption includes at least one of sending a check by mail to the financialinstitution, making a deposit at a branch of the financial institution,electronically transferring funds to the financial institution from asource outside of the financial institution, and providing funding froma preexisting account at the financial institution.
 12. The method ofclaim 1 wherein the customer can choose a personal identification numberfor the debit card or the ATM card.
 13. A method of interfacing with aclient computer with at least one server comprising at least oneprocessor, the method comprising the steps of, via the at least oneprocessor: (a) receiving an interface request from a client computerafter the client computer has reached, via a path through a computernetwork, a predetermined webpage on a computer system for the financialinstitution; (b) presenting a list of products to the client computerwherein the list of products presented is determined at least in part bythe path through the computer network; (c) receiving a choice of one ormore products from the client computer; (d) authenticating the clientcomputer using a first set of identification information; (e) reviewingthe first set of identification information: (i) if the first set ofidentification information is not verified, requesting a second set ofidentification information that includes personal data of a customerusing the client computer; (ii) if the first set of customeridentification information is verified, evaluating a predeterminedclient identification profile (“CIP”) for the customer: (A) if the CIPis acceptable, displaying the customer's personal information on theclient computer and collecting and verifying a set of co-applicantidentification information; (B) if the CIP is not acceptable, requestinga third set of customer identification information that includespersonal data of the customer that is different than the second set ofcustomer information; (f) for the received second or third set ofcustomer identification information: (i) determining the customer'sprimary residence location; (ii) obtaining a secondary residencelocation from the customer where the customer's determined primaryresidence location is not within an operating area of the financialinstitution; (iii) collecting and verifying a set of co-applicantidentification information where there is a co-applicant associated withthe customer; (g) factoring whether the customer is a new or existingclient of the financial institution in determining a credit score of thecustomer and presenting terms and conditions to the client computer forat least one of the one or more products chosen by the client computer;and (h) receiving an application from the client computer for at leastone of the one or more products chosen by the client computer.
 14. Themethod of claim 13 wherein the terms and conditions presented to theclient computer include at least one of an electronic disclosure, aretail bank services agreement a state pricing guide, a corporateprivacy notice, and a tax identification number certification.
 15. Themethod of claim 13 further comprising the steps of, via the at least oneprocessor: (i) determining and evaluating a first set of verificationdata for a demand deposit account (“DDA”); (j) determining a second setof verification data where the first set of verification data is notacceptable; (k) determining and evaluating a third set of verificationdata where a co-applicant is associated with the customer; (l)evaluating the second set of verification data; (m) determining a statusof the customer where the evaluation of either the second or third setof verification data is not acceptable: (i) placing the customer in apending status in the instance where the customer is an existing clientof the financial institution; (ii) ending the process in the instancewhere the customer is not an existing client of the financialinstitution; and (n) approving the customer for a DDA where the secondset of verification data is acceptable.
 16. The method of claim 15wherein the evaluation of the second or third verification data includesapplying a predetermined set of business rules.
 17. The method of claim16 wherein the predetermined set of business rules includes a go/no godecision of at least one of a social security number evaluation, a taxidentification number evaluation, an identity theft evaluation, a retailindicator evaluation, a previous inquiries evaluation, a closure summaryevaluation, and a closure details evaluation.
 18. The method of claim 13further comprising the steps of, via the at least one processor: (i)presenting option package terms to the client computer where the clientcomputer has requested an option package, wherein the option packageincludes at least one of a debit card and an automated teller machine(“ATM”) card; (j) receiving funding information from the clientcomputer; (k) verifying the funding information; (l) requestingadditional funds where the funding information is not valid; (m)determining customer debit card information where the customer iseligible for a debit card; (n) determining customer ATM card informationwhere the customer is eligible for an ATM card; (o) determininginformation to open an online banking account for the customer where thecustomer is not an online banking client of the financial institution;and (p) generating account numbers at the financial institution for atleast one account associated with the customer for at least one of thedebit card or the ATM card and presenting final summary information tothe client computer, otherwise placing the customer in a review process.19. A method of interfacing with a client computer with at least oneserver comprising at least one processor, the method comprising thesteps of, via the at least one processor: (a) receiving an interfacerequest from a client computer after the client computer has reached,via a path through a computer network, a predetermined webpage on acomputer system for the financial institution; (b) presenting a firstcontent to the client computer; (c) receiving a first input from theclient computer; (d) receiving from the client computer a first set ofinformation; (e) presenting the first set of information to the clientcomputer for review by a customer using the client computer andreceiving a second set of information from the client computer whereinthe second set of information comprises the first set of information andany modifications to the first set of information made by the customer;(f) presenting to the client computer a set of terms and conditions; (g)receiving an application from the client computer; (h) verifying atleast a part of the second set of information; (i) determining a creditscore for the customer based at least in part on whether the customer isan existing client of the financial institution; (j) presenting to theclient computer a set of account options and associated terms andconditions wherein the set of account options presented are based atleast in part on said determined credit score for the customer, whereinthe set of account options presented is a first set of account optionswhere the customer is an existing client of the financial institution ora second set of account options where the customer is not an existingclient of the financial institution, wherein the account options in thesecond set are fewer than the account options in the first set; (k)receiving a funding option from the client computer; (l) verifying thefunding option; (m) determining that the customer is to be enrolled fora debit card or an automated teller machine (“ATM”) card; (n) processingthe customer for the debit card or ATM card enrollment; (o) determiningthat the customer is to be enrolled in an online banking program; (p)reserving account numbers at the financial institution for the customer;(q) presenting to the client computer information related to thecustomer's approved products, accounts, or enrollments; and (r) sendinga communication to the client computer indicating approval of thecustomer's approved products, accounts, or enrollments.
 20. A method ofinterfacing with a client computer with at least one server comprisingat least one processor, the method comprising the steps of, via the atleast one processor: (a) receiving an interface request from a customervia a client computer after the client computer has reached, via a paththrough a computer network, a predetermined webpage on a computer systemfor the financial institution; (b) presenting a list of products to theclient computer wherein the list of products presented is determined atleast in part by the path through the computer network, wherein the listof products presented is a first list and the path is a first path wherethe customer is an existing client of the financial institution, or thelist of products presented is a second list and the path is a secondpath where the customer is not an existing client of the financialinstitution; (c) receiving a choice of one or more products from theclient computer; (d) authenticating the client computer using a firstset of identification information; (e) reviewing the first set ofidentification information: (i) if the first set of identificationinformation is not verified, requesting a second set of identificationinformation that includes personal data of a customer using the clientcomputer; (ii) if the first set of customer identification informationis verified, evaluating a predetermined client identification profile(“CIP”) for the customer: (A) if the CIP is acceptable, displaying thecustomer's personal information on the client computer and collectingand verifying a set of co-applicant identification information; (B) ifthe CIP is not acceptable, requesting a third set of customeridentification information that includes personal data of the customerthat is different than the second set of customer information; (f) forthe received second or third set of customer identification information:(i) determining the customer's primary residence location; (ii)obtaining a secondary residence location from the customer where thecustomer's determined primary residence location is not within anoperating area of the financial institution; (iii) collecting andverifying a set of co-applicant identification information where thereis a co-applicant associated with the customer; (g) determining a creditscore for the customer based at least in part on whether the customer isan existing client of the financial institution and presenting terms andconditions to the client computer for at least one of the one or moreproducts chosen by the client computer; and (h) receiving an applicationfrom the client computer for at least one of the one or more productschosen by the client computer.